Today we’d like to introduce you to Ola Iyaomolere.
Ola, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The first time I ever poured myself into writing was in 6th grade; we had a Halloween writing assignment in which we had to write a scary story. When I turned in the assignment, my teacher believed it was one of the best stories he had read so far, and wanted me to read it in front of the class. Back then I was still shy, so of course, I kindly declined. But, since then I realized I actually had a knack for creative writing and I’ve just been improving my gift since.
Fast forward to university, for the first time in my life I willingly got up on stage to perform. It was only maybe two minutes, but it was the longest two minutes of my life. Afterward, I realized that stage fright and shyness was always just an excuse. Today I am posting inspirational videos and messages on YouTube, Instagram and my website. I went from being that shy little girl to this vibrant, free young woman and I’m excited to see where God takes me on the next step of this journey.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Sometimes I will go months without knowing what to write or say. I think that is mainly because I’m human. Like even now I am still on the journey I call “Self”. I’m still getting to know who I am as a person and in the process of discovering “me”, it sometimes puts a delay in the content I put out. Also, I am a perfectionist lol, I’d rather put my best out than to put out anything that is halfway decent.
Also, this year brought the biggest obstacle I had to overcome, I was laid off at the end of January and was out of work for almost six months. During that time, I thought to myself “Yes! As I’m looking for work, I’ll be putting content out every two weeks since I have so much free time”. Obviously, that’s not what happened. Instead, I literally retreated inwards and left my platform on the back burner. SimplyOla was built on a foundation of strength from hardships, and it can and will only build up from there.
Please tell us more about your work.
SimplyOla was founded in January of 2015. It was originally named simplycomplexedmind, due to the complexity of my thoughts. I used to tell people that my thoughts were very complex, but when I poured those thoughts into my writing they would be so simple to read. SimplyOla started out as a way to just express myself through mainly poetry and short stories. Now I create content on both YouTube and Instagram. My content mainly consists of motivational messages that reaches out to and inspires not only my generation but the ones to follow.
What I am doing is bridging the gap between every living soul. I want people to know that they are not alone, we have each other. There are so many people in this world that are living through the same issues, feeling unheard, feeling lost, as if they do not belong in this world, or maybe they just need extra support. That is the purpose of the various platforms I have created, to inspire and uplift those who are going through it all.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
When I was a child in my early elementary school years, during the summers, my mom would wake up very early in the mornings for her job. Every single morning that summer she used to leave my sisters and I plates of breakfast on the table with our names on the cover. This action she did every morning always set a happy mood during those summer days. I know this may seem small but the fact that she took extra time to specifically leave each of us our own plate meant the world. It showed how much she cared and, that no matter how busy she was, she would always make time for us.
Contact Info:
- Website: simplycomplexedmind.com
- Email: simplycomplexedmind@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/_simplyola/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTGFomOOYdgWDaUC6XpsHhA
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